Steam trap



umwsm' t Patented Sept. 3, 1935 rATENT OFFICE,

7 STEAM TRAP Felix J. Vincent, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application January 22, 1934, Serial No. 707,736

' 2 Claims.

My invention relates to steam traps.

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.the line 2 -2 of Fig. 1,,as indicated by the arrows.

,views, and, .in which, i

-tion thereof mallyoperated elements which are relatively slow in operation and cause wastage of steam.

, An object of my invention is to provide a steam trap of novel, simple, inexpensive and reliable construction and which is rapid and accurate in operation.

Another object is to provide asteam trap of such constructionthat partssubject to the effects of wear and corrosion areunnecessary.

These and otherobjectsqand advantages will more fully appear from the fo-llowing description, made in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to the same orsimilar parts throughout the various ,Fig. 1 is a verticalsectio-nal View of my steam trap taken diametrically; thereof; and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionalview taken along Referring to; the drawing, the embodiment of myinvention illustrated includes an annular base or body member 3 having an upwardlyopening cylindrical recess or well 341 .in the upper por- A boss 3b extending downwardly from the lowerendof the body 3 is cylindrically recessed as at 30 and internal screw threads are formed in portions defining the recess 30. A

flanged boss 3d, extending radially outwardly ,fromayside of the body .iuisv externally screw- ,threaded in' the flange portion thereof and is *cylindrically: recessed as at 3e, the recess 3e being ,QOl llflCfiGdfllOjhG well 30, by means of a relatively small aperture 3 as shown. An upwardly opening recess-3g extends downwardly from the center of. the lower end of the well 3a into the lower portion of thebody 3 and'is provided with internal screw threads. formed in, the portion of the body 3 by which it is defined. A relatively -smallaperture 3h connects the recess 3g with the recess 30 of the boss 3b. l A vertically disposedtubular memberor outlet tube lis provided with external screw threads at its lowerrend-bywhichit is rigidly mounted in the screw threads of the aperture 39. The tubular member ,4 extends upwardly from the lower end of the well. to and is open at its upper end.

i A-second'pr outer tubular member 5, of larger parts so constructed that {inlet passage for dome 8 and the well So and will hereinafter be diameter than the tubular member 4 and open'at the lower end, is loosely telescoped over the tubular member t so as to be vertically movable with respect thereto and is of such proportions that a restricted annular space will be provided 5 between the interior periphery of the outer tubular member 5 and the exterior periphery of the inner tubular member 4 to form a passage. A float E, preferably inthe form oi a hollow sphere,

as shown, is secured to the upperend of the outer 1p tubular member 5 and incidentally serves to close the upper end of the tubular member 5. A part of the lower portion of the sphere 6 defined by the upper end of the outer tubular member 5 forms, in cooperation with the upper end of the inner tubular member 6, a valve for controlling communication between the annular space between the tubular members l and '5 and the interior of the inner tubular member 4. I

A centrally apertured stabilizer disc I, having a diameter slightly less than the diameterof the well to, is secured to the-periphery of the lower end of the outer tubular member?! ina horizontally disposed position as shown; The relative lengths of the tubular members 4 and 5 are such that'the disc '1 will be slightly spacedabove the-lower end of the well ta. when the lower portion of the spherical float 6 is engaged with the valve seat formed by the upper end of the inner tubular member 4.

. 130 The upper end 37' of the body 3 isof reduced'diameter to form a shoulder immediately threbelow and is externally screw-threaded. An open bottomed dome or cap 3, having internal screw threads in its lower end, is screw-threadedly mounted on the portion 37' of the body 3 to enclose the float 6 and the tubular members 4 and-5. The lower edge of the dome 8 is in tight engagement with the shoulder on the body 3 below the reduced portion 3a. The dome is of such di- 40 mensions as to permit limited vertical movement of the float 6.

The dome B and the well 30; cooperatively form a chamber which is completely closed except .for the small apertures 3 and 3h.

The small aperture 3 and the large cylindrical A5 recess 3e of the boss 3d cooperatively form an the chamber formed by the referred to as the inlet of my steamtrap; The

'small'ap'erture th. and the large cylindrical recess in the boss 32) cooperatively form an cutletfrom the interior of the inner, tubular member. 4 and will hereinafter be referred to as the outlet of my steam trap. ,lili

Operation In normal use of my steam trap in connection with a steam heating system for the purpose of draining condensate from a radiator of such a system, the inlet of my steam trap is connected to the lower portion of the interior of the radiator (not shown) and the outlet is connected to a conduit (not shown) through which condensate may flow to a suitable place of disposal therefor such as the feed water system or" a boiler serving the heating system.

Steam condensing in the radiator will collect in the lower portion of the radiator and will be conducted to the chamber of my steam trap through the restricted passage afforded by the aperture 3 The pressure of the steam in the radiator will be impressed on the condensate in the radiator to urge the same toward the chamber of my steam trap and the condensate in my steam trap will obviously be subjected to substantially the same pressure.

Normally, the chamber of my steam trap will be filled with condensate up to such a level that the buoyant effect of the condensate on the float 6 will not exceed the combined weight of the float 6, the outer tubular member 5 and the disc 7. It is to be noted that the level of the condensate is always above the valve formed at the upper end of the inner tubular member 4 whereby a water seal is at all times provided for this valve. As additional condensate accumulates in the chamber, the level of the condensate reaches a point at which the buoyancy of the float exceeds the combined weight of the float and the parts carried thereby with the result that the float is raised and the valve formed by the lower portion of the float and the upper end of the inner tubular member 4 is opened to permit passage of condensate therethrough. Also the disc 7 is raised and the clearance between the disc 1 and the lower end of the well 3a is increased. Condensate will then flow from the chamber of the device successively through the annular space between the periphery of the disc and the wall of the well 3a, through the space between the disc 1 and the bottom of the well 3a, through the annular space between the tubular members 4 and 5, between the bottom of the float and the top end of the inner tubular member 4, through the .interior of the inner tubular member 4, through the restricted passage afforded by the aperture 3h. and thence through the conduit previously mentioned to a place of disposal.

When enough condensate has been drained from the radiator and the chamber of my steam trap to lower the level of the condensate in said chamber the float 6 will drop to a point at which its lower side will engage the upper end of the inner tubular member 4 to stop the flow of condensate. The pressure transmitted to the chamber from the interior of the radiator acts on the float 6 to produce a. slight force tending to hold the float in its lowermost position. When condensate again rises and buoys up the float to an extent whereby the buoyancy exceeds the above mentioned force plus the weight of the float and the parts carried thereby, the float will again rise and the above described cycle will be repeated.

The force supplied by pressure referred to above as tending to hold the float in its lowermost position, as will be obvious, will amount only to the product of the pressure per unit of area and the internal cross-sectional area of the inner tubular member 4.

The inner tubular member 4, being screwthreadedly mounted, is vertically adjustable and may be adjusted to secure the best operation of the device. This member and portions thereof function as part of the float valve, as a guide for the float 6 and the outer tubular member 5 and as a conduit for outgoing condensate.

The apertures 3 and 3b and the annular space between the tubular members 4 and 5 are purposely made very small to limit the rate of flow of condensate through the device hence eliminating the chance of water hammer when the valve of the device is closed and reducing the speed with which the valve must close to prevent steam from following the condensate through the valve. I have found that an aperture having a diameter of approximately one-sixteenth of an inch results in the best operation of my device in connection with an average sized radiator.

The stabilizer disc 1 has several functions. It serves as a weight to partially counterbalance the buoyancy of the float and, being disposed at the lowest portion of the movable group of parts, tends to maintain the movable tubular member 5 in vertically disposed position so as to move freely with respect to the stationary tubular member 4. The disc 1 serves also as a dashpot element to restrain the float from bobbing up and down and to prevent unduly rapid openings or closure of the float actuated valve.

The aperture 3] and the relatively large recess 3e comprises a sediment trap in that sediment will settle to the lower portion of the large recess 36 and the aperture 3f is situated a reasonable distance above the bottom side of the recess 36. The small size of the aperture 3f and the slow rate of water flow therethrough eliminates turbulence in the water and hence provides for sub stantially undisturbed settling of sediment.

It will be noted that the dome 8 may be readily removed and that, when the dome has been removed, the internal parts of my steam trap are all immediately accessible for inspection, cleaning or replacement. The float and the parts carried thereby may be removed as a unit without detachment of any securing or retaining means and constitute the only movable unit in the device.

It is to be noted that my steam trap contains no pivotal connections and no other closely fitting parts which would be subject to binding or corrosion.

It is obvious that the inlet and outlet connections of my steam trap may be arranged at various portions of the body or base of the device to facilitate connections to pipes extending in various directions and that such alteration does not necessitate any changes in the remaining parts of the device.

It is apparent that I have invented a novel, simple, inexpensive, reliable and effective form of steam trap which is substantially free from trouble due to binding, distortion of parts or corrosion.

Although my device has been described as constructed for use in connection with the radiator of a steam heating system it is obvious that it may be readily adapted for use wherever it is desired to drain ofi condensate without loss of live steam.

rangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of the present invention,

What is claimed is:--

1. A steam trap comprising a chamber having an inlet and an outlet, a float and a valve both disposed in said chamber, one portion of said valve being connected to said float for actuation thereby and another portion being in communication with said outlet, said float being so'located that the level of liquid in said chamber at which said float will just close said valve will be above said valve, and a substantially horizontally disposed plate carried by said float in a position below the normal level of liquid in said chamber, the edges of said plate being but slightly spaced from the sides of said chamber'to form a restricted annular passage between said edges and said sides.

2. A steam trap comprising a chamber, said chamber having an aperture forming a restricted inlet thereinto, a float disposed in the upper portion of said chamber, a tubular member depending from said float and closed at its, upper end, an upstanding tubular member substantially closed at its lower end and rigidly mounted in said chamber, said chamber being apertured to form a restricted outlet therefor extending from the lower portion of said upstanding tubular member to a point located exteriorly of said chamber, said depending tubular member being disposed loosely about the exterior of said upstanding tubular member, the closed upper end of said depending tubular member cooperating with the upper end of said upstanding tubular member to form a valve, and a centrally apertured disc rigidly mounted on the periphery of the lower end of said depending tubular member and having edges but slightly spaced from the sides of said chamber to form a restricted annular passage between said edges and said sides, said depending tubular member being vertically movable with respect to said upstanding tubular member and being of such proportions that said valve will be closed and said'disc will be slightly spaced from the lower end of said chamber when said depending tubular member is at its lowermost limit of movement.

' FELIX J. VINCENT. 

